


The Deep Kindness of Truth

by Anonymous



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 18:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19090222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: An infinite number of possible universes and the same four words have followed Rhaenys Targaryen throughout them all. Most of the time, they were a lie.





	The Deep Kindness of Truth

“I won’t hurt you,” Amory Lorch said before he grabbed her and she kicked him and he stabbed her over and over while she screamed for her father and her mother and _anyone_ to come save her until she couldn’t scream any more.

“I won’t hurt you,” Jaime Lannister said as he picked her up to carry her away from the carnage, sword still dripping with the blood of her would be killer, and did nothing as his father’s men murdered her mother and brother.

“I won’t hurt you,” Ned Stark said, and he enveloped her in his arms, holding her tightly and saying nothing as she shook herself apart, before he took her to Robert and stood there while the usurper king loomed and blustered and threatened her to tears.

“I won’t hurt you,” Barristan Selmy said before he whisked her out of Westeros and even further away from her mother’s family in Dorne and towards Viserys and Daenerys in exile in Essos while she pleaded to be taken to Sunspear and Oberyn instead.

“I won’t hurt you,” Arys Oakheart said as he took her away from the Water Gardens and Dorne and the brilliant sunshine of the only home she could remember to shepherd her into the cold, dark north to be wed to the unknown eldest son of the man who had helped rip her family apart.

“I won’t hurt you,” Robb Stark says now, and he kneels before her as if to prove the point, gentle hands taking one of hers, a kinder touch than she can remember feeling from anyone in longer than she cares to think about. “I promise you that.”

She’s tempted to sob, to scoff, to snarl, to spit in his face, one of them or all. She does none. Eddard Stark may have been hailed as a man of honour, but even if he’d objected to her family’s deaths, he’d still helped his friend climb to his throne over the corpses of the innocent. How could she possibly believe in vows from his son, however sweetly given? How could she possibly believe repudiating them wouldn’t be met with reprisal?

“I’ve seen what promises are worth,” she says instead. Despite herself, she tenses as the words pass her lips. Robb doesn’t look angry. Instead, he blinks slowly at her and climbs to his feet, still holding her hand carefully.

“I know,” he admits. He holds her gaze and raises her hand to press it against his lips before finally releasing it. “But if you give me a chance, I can prove I mean it.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Why?”

She isn’t sure why she’s questioning him. He’d be kind or he wouldn’t be. He’d hurt her or he wouldn’t. No matter what, she’d survive. What does his reasoning matter?

“Why?” Robb echoes, faltering for the first time. She nods. “As in…why wouldn’t I hurt you or why I’d want to prove it to you?”

It’s her turn to pause. “Either, I suppose. Both.”

Robb huffs a laugh. He stammers a little as he tries to find the words, and some of the tension eases out of Rhaenys’s shoulders to hear it. “I – well – you’re smart. Beautiful. You’re not…even though you have every reason to be terrified, you’re not backing down.”

She raises her eyebrow again, higher this time. “You don’t want to hurt me because you think I’m smart, beautiful, and brave? What if I was none of those things?”

His eyes widen in brief horror and maybe – just a little – anger. “No!”

He steps closer. She resists the urge to step backwards. He’s much bigger than her, but he isn’t trying to loom over her, isn’t trying to frighten her, isn’t making any threats.

She’s faced enough of them to know a real one when she sees it. This isn’t it.

_Unbowed, unbent, unbroken._

“I won’t hurt you because hurting you would be _wrong_ ,” he says – low, intense, utterly focused on her. He takes her by the shoulders, and even though she has to look up to meet his gaze, she’s struck by how _carefully_ he’s holding her. “No matter who you were. I want to _prove you can trust me_ because we all know what you’ve been through. I’m not going to be another person you’re afraid of. I won’t hurt you, I won’t let anyone else. And I think we can make this work, you and me. I’m willing to try if you are?”

He quirks the corner of his mouth up hopefully at that. Rhaenys doesn’t say anything for a moment, instead just taking in the words and looking up at Robb. She dimly wonders if he’s seeing their size difference as something she should be comforted by, rather than wary of. _I won’t hurt you, I won’t let anyone else._ He sees it as a way to guarantee that. She sees it as…well.

She forces the thoughts out of her head. This is not the time to search for reasons he might possible be capable of doing her harm. This is a time to make a decision –would he or wouldn’t he? Should she trust him or should she not?

He’s still looking at her, and it’s gentle – so impossibly, _unbelievably_ gentle. It’s not a real question. Not really – they don’t have a choice. But it’s a courtesy of a sort she hadn’t been expecting, the extended hand of a man that wants a partnership. That wants their marriage to work. The only possible response to that can be gratitude.

She nods up at her new husband. “Okay.”

A relieved smile breaks across his face and his eyes light up. The sight brings a grin to her own face that she can’t and doesn’t try to suppress. “Thank you, Rhaenys.”

She leans up on her toes and presses her mouth against his. It’s a quick kiss – chaste, really, just the briefest pressure of lips to lips – but Robb’s eyes widen with surprise. Rhaenys has to resist the urge to laugh at him.

“Sealed with a kiss,” she says. “You and me, then.”

Robb nods slowly and kisses her forehead, drawing her into an embrace. “You and me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? I kind of love the idea of Robb and Rhaenys...they're like the best ship that never was! It makes very little sense, but I'm into it anyway.


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